October 2006

31/10/2006

The Minister of State for Health has announced the launch of a capital fund of £10m to invest in innovative demonstration sites that will deliver high quality occupational health services to both the NHS and workers in Small/Medium Enterprises.

28 royal colleges, faculties and health organisations have signed up to the Commitment to Patient Safety. The document includes pledges on leadership, training and education, incident reporting and patient information.

At the end of 2004, a consultation was undertaken which set out in detail the draft Regulations that would govern the new, expanded NHS Injury Costs Recovery scheme. 72 replies were received. This document provides a summary of outcomes.

The DH has published the test version of the PbR National Tariff for 2007/8. The test phase is intended to give NHS organisations an opportunity to model the impact of the increased tariff using local data and enable assessment of volume and cost.

30/10/2006

NHS Employers has published a framework for employers on how they can provide support for NHS staff whose jobs are at risk and for newly qualified healthcare professionals who are looking for work in health and social care.

The DH has published the latest statistics on NHS redundancies. This indicates that around 900 compulsory redundancies have been made in the NHS during the first half of this financial year, the vast majority being made up of managers and administrative staff. The findings are based on returns submitted by Strategic Health Authorities.

The Healthcare Commission has published the State of Healthcare report to Parliament. The report presses for more attention on services for people with learning disabilities and mental health conditions. It states that more should be done to ensure that people are treated with dignity and respect and get better information about their care. The report includes a view of performance in meeting the minimum standards for the independent sector in England.

The NHS Institute's Delivering Quality and Value Team has launched a series of documents focusing on High Volume Care. The documents show a detailed range of specific or system improvements along the entire patient pathway, from primary care through referral and treatment to discharge and rehabilitation.